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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
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Fidayeen:
The Chickens Come Home to Roost
Massoud
Ansari writing in the Karachi-based Newsline in June
2004 had noted that a "clandestine call for potential 'fidayeen'
- suicide bombers - is circulating across Pakistan and dozens
of youth have answered its summons." Since 2002, there have
been at least 11 suicide attacks in Pakistan. Suicide attacks
during the current year include:
Naxalites: A Compact
of Fire
The merger of two dangerous left wing extremist outfits, the erstwhile Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War (CPI-ML PW, also known as the People's War Group or PWG) poses a threat that goes beyond internal security, and imperils India's Parliamentary Democracy itself. The two Left Wing extremist groups merged to form a new "unified" entity, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) on September 21 somewhere in the projected Naxalite 'liberated zone', either in Jharkhand or Bihar. The merger of these two groups, long-feared by the state's intelligence agencies who had taken up the obstruction of such a fusion as a priority, contains the potential to change the course of the 'revolutionary movement' not only in India, but also across the South Asian neighbourhood.
The merger
now makes the CPI-Maoist a pan-Indian revolutionary group,
and brings the Maoists closer to their objective of 'liberating'
their proposed Compact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ), which extends
from Nepal through Bihar in the North to Dandakaranya region
(forest areas of Central India) and Andhra Pradesh in the
South. The intention is to have a continuous stretch of
territory under their influence and control, with the ultimate
goal of eventually "liberating" the entire zone. Large parts
of this territory have already been brought under the extremist
influence with only some link-ups now necessary in the remaining
pockets to make the CRZ a reality. Once achieved, the CRZ
will virtually drive a wedge through the vital areas of
the country, and would help crystallize linkages with other
Maoist groups operating in South Asia, including the Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) and the Communist Party of
Bhutan-Maoist (CPB-M).
In the meantime,
the state response to 'Naxalism' remains incoherent and
directionless. As the extremists work to consolidate and
expand their power, repeatedly declaring their commitment
to 'armed struggle' and their rejection of India's 'bourgeois
democracy', the Andhra Pradesh Government - the State has
been the location of some of the most serious and ideologically
coherent movement for decades now - has put its entire faith
in 'negotiations', backed by the Centre, with the Union
Ministry of Home Affairs encouraging other Naxalite-affected
States to follow the Andhra Pradesh example. Initial reports
on the talks between representatives of the PWG / CPI-Maoist
and the Andhra Government, however, are far from encouraging.
The Naxalites have rejected two basic ground rules that
the State Government had put forward: they will not surrender
their arms; and will not accept any restriction on bearing
arms in the areas of their operation, and the Government
has tamely submitted. The Government, incidentally, has
already called off all counter-insurgency operations in
the State, giving the armed Naxalite cadres a completely
free run. Reports suggest frenetic activity to regroup,
recruit and train new cadres in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa,
Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, as well as significant
activity to enter hitherto virgin territories. While the
CPI-Maoist's intentions are abundantly clear, neither the
Union nor the State Governments appear to have any coherent
strategy - other than the delusionary optimism of a directionless
process of 'negotiations' - to contain or counter the extremist
gameplan.
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Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia October 11-17, 2004
 INDIA People's
War
Group
and
Maoist
Communist
Centre
merge
to
form
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Maoist):
On
October
14,
the
People's
War
Group
(PWG)
'State
secretary',
Ramakrishna,
at
a
news
conference
in
Hyderabad,
announced
that
the
left
wing
extremist
(also
called
Naxalite)
groups,
the
PWG
and
the
Maoist
Communist
Centre
(MCC)
have
merged
to
form
a
new
'unified'
Communist
Party
of
India
(Maoist).
He
said
the
party
was
formed
on
September
21,
2004,
at
an
undisclosed
place
in
the
forests,
but
the
announcement
was
"withheld"
owing
to
security
reasons.
The
general
secretary
of
the
PWG
'central
committee',
Muppala
Lakshman
Rao
alias
Ganapathi,
has
been
elected
'general
secretary'
of
the
new
party.
Ramakrishna
and
Janasakthi
leaders
said
that
the
merger
had
"fulfilled
the
aspirations
of
the
masses"
for
a
strong
revolutionary
party
that
would
usher
in
a
"new
democratic
society"
by
advancing
towards
socialism
and
communism.
They
also
stated
that
the
two
guerrilla
"armies"
of
the
PWG
and
the
MCC
-
the
People's
Guerrilla
Army
(PGA)
and
the
People's
Liberation
Guerrilla
Army
(PLGA)
respectively-
have
now
merged
and
would
be
called
the
People's
Liberation
Guerrilla
Army
(PLGA)
from
December
2,
2004.
The
Hindu,
Times
of
India,
The
Statesman,
October
15,
2004  PAKISTAN
National
Assembly
empowers
President
Musharraf
to
continue
as
Army
Chief:
The
National
Assembly
on
October
14
approved,
amid
a
noisy
opposition,
a
Bill
that
would
enable
the
President,
General
Pervez
Musharraf,
to
continue
as
Chief
of
Army
Staff
(COAS)
till
2007.
The
law
would
empower
holder
of
the
office
of
the
President
to
hold
another
office
of
profit
in
the
service
of
Pakistan
and
this
provision
shall
be
valid
only
for
the
present
holder
of
the
office
of
the
President
-
General
Pervez
Musharraf.
According
to
the
statement
of
objects
and
reasons
of
the
bill:
"The
President
to
Hold
Another
Office
Act
2004"
would
safeguard
the
national
interests
in
prevailing
international
situation
to
combat
terrorism
and
subversion,
which
disturbed
peace
and
tranquillity
and
disrupted
the
law
and
order
situation
in
the
country."
The
Bill
would
now
go
to
the
Upper
House,
the
Senate,
for
approval.
Dawn,
October
15,
2004
 NEPAL Maoists
declare
unilateral
ceasefire
for
nine
days:
The
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Maoist
(CPN-M),
in
a
statement
signed
by
its
'Chairman',
Pushpa
Kamal
Dahal
alias
Prachanda
has
stated
that
CPN-M
would
suspend
all
of
its
armed
operations
for
a
period
of
nine
days,
from
October
20
to
October
28,
2004
on
the
occasion
of
Nepali
festival
period,
Dashain.
Prachanda
has
called
upon
his
party
rank
and
file
to
remain
in
a
'state
of
active
defense'
and
to
'suspend
all
offensive
activities'.
Nepal
News,
October
16,
2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
